Topic: Pricing of Wii Games

[UncleBob]

With Sony's aggressive $39.99 price point for Move titles and rumors that Microsoft is going to have a similar price structure for Kinect titles, do you see Nintendo getting more generous with their pricing of select Wii titles?

[ShyGuy]

No

[Mop it up]

Doubtful, but it depends. If Sony and Microsoft's games actually sell well, and it seems as if sales of Nintendo's games are declining, it might happen. But if Nintendo does reduce prices, it will be because of something that has happened, not an attempt to combat potential competition.

[KDR_11k]

Nintendo first arty games are 40€ here, compared to the regular 70€ price on the HD systems (for comparison last gen's console games were 60€ across the board and some Wii games still are).

[Ian Sane]

Nintendo is arrogant.  They try to be proactive with the market as a whole but in direct competition they're very reactive.  They act like the competition does not exist until they no longer can.  Nintendo will drop Wii games prices only if either Move or Kinect actually take off and eat into Wii game sales.

[KDR_11k]

Remember that Nintendo is following a strategy and they have to be thorough with that, not just ignore parts on a whim. The strategy dictates that you should not fight competition head-on but undermine their values and don't flinch when something looks like a blow but isn't. Move and Kinect have no chance to fight the Wii because they were created pursuing the wrong values. The strategy actually predicts that the competition will try misguided moves like that. The real moves in Nintendo's battle aren't easily visible, E3 2008 was Nintendo's attack against Move and Natal (hence the Motion Plus announcement right before MS's press conference) because they anticipated the competition to announce those in '08 when they could still have done damage. In '09 it was too late for Sony or MS to make a successful move so Nintendo didn't care anymore. Now we're at the point where the most Kinect can do is add a line of EyeToy games to the 360, even if it does succeed Nintendo would change directions and disrupt the current market that it built with the Wii, negating Kinect and sending MS on another odyssey before catching up again. Doesn't really matter though, MS lacks the means to provide the games for Kinect that Nintendo can provide for Wii.

[Spak-Spang]

I don't care about a small $10.00 price difference.   Honestly, I would have to buy 10 games to make up the difference for just one controller for the PS3...at least Microsoft can say the price of Natal is for 4 players, but then again every game on it is questionable at best, so I am not interested in it.

Could I see Nintendo possibly dropping some prices...maybe, but only because Nintendo's strategy is to not have later price drops and keep retail prices at there starting point.  I can see Nintendo dropping prices so that they can later not have to drop prices in the future. 

KDR:  I do believe you are right.  We are half way through this generation of gaming, and Nintendo has already made its money and won the hearts and minds (and dollars) of the consumers and media.  So even if Microsoft and Sony are successful with their new controllers, which is doubtful...but still anything is possible...it is unlikely to hurt or effect Nintendo in any significant way.  I see late 2011 or early 2012 as Nintendo's year to show off something new in relation to console hardware...and Microsoft and Sony will have only had a year with their new devices out...not enough to change any sort of momentum to do anything to Nintendo...plus Nintendo's own 3DS will most likely push momentum away from Microsoft and Sony and towards Nintendo's future. 

[TJ Spyke]

Nintendo is arrogant. They try to be proactive with the market as a whole but in direct competition they're very reactive. They act like the competition does not exist until they no longer can. Nintendo will drop Wii games prices only if either Move or Kinect actually take off and eat into Wii game sales.

How are they arrogant? They are the only ones who DIDN'T raise their game prices this gen. Sony's non-Move games will still be $60. Also, third party publishers can charge whatever they want. Nintendo already charges $10 less than the average PS3 and 360 game, why would they drop prices?

Besides, PlayStation Move and Kinect will get niche support at most. Kinect is $150 and so far only has party games and clones of Wii games so far, a PSM controller will cost $80 for both parts and none of the games that require it look that good.

[KDR_11k]

Weren't EyeToy games also cheaper than regular games?